Therese's exact age is unknown, but Jeanette mentions their last sunrise as being over two lifetimes ago. Therese was a little girl when she first showed signs of mental illness, namely dissociative identity disorder , which came in the form of an alter called Jeanette. Therese states that she and Jeanette did get along at one point, mainly because she didn't have many friends due to her father never allowing her out, saying that she would get hurt in the outside world โ as a result, Jeanette was the only one who was there for her and they would create their own fantasy world which they would rule over.
Therese's only other known relation from her time alive was her father who would molest her. Therese blames Jeanette for his depression, saying that her bad behavior was tormenting him. Therese simply saw this as her being a good and obedient daughter, and she was convinced her father loved her. Therese's father died later on; Therese says their father killed himself because Jeanette was a bad daughter and tormented their father with her promiscuity, while Jeanette claims that their father came home drunk one evening and mistook Jeanette for Therese and began molesting her instead.
Therese caught them together and shot him in a jealous rage, "blowing his mind all over the silly clown wallpaper". The police found out about his death and figured one of her personalities had killed their father. It is heavily implied Therese was placed in a mental institution, where they briefly suppressed Jeanette from her mind, and she must have remained at the institute until young adulthood.
Jeanette mentions an escape, claiming the first thing Therese did was find Jeanette. It is likely she is talking about her Embrace by an unknown Malkavian, which may have brought about Jeanette's return as Malkavian blood is inherently insane. Her base of operations and her primary business source was the Asylum , a nightclub in her barony.
She ran through finances and business side of things, while Jeanette lured in patrons for the club. Jeanette favored the Anarchs and was in direct contact with Smiling Jack. Therese had invested in many new business ventures, one of which Bertram Tung and Jeanette ruined for her, causing a feud between her and Tung, causing the latter to go into hiding. One of her most promising investments was the Ocean House Hotel , opened in the early 20th Century and was a popular destination for vacationers until an insane guest decapitated his wife and children while staying there.
